Summary of main research achievements: mechanisms of vocal learning in birds

My research largely focuses on vocal communication in birds. From a mechanistic viewpoint, I am interested in vocal transformations during vocal development, and my recent research has focused on the effects of sleep and melatonin on vocal learning. From an evolutionary viewpoint, I am interested in the origins of vocal learning. Please find below a short abstract of these research achievements.

Effect of sleep on developmental song learning: we observed that during periods of rapid learning, song structure exhibited a pronounced deterioration after night-sleep. Furthermore, birds that showed stronger post-sleep deterioration during development achieved a better final imitation of the playback song. Additional experiments showed that song deterioration was due to sleep. This study was the first to demonstrate the role of sleep in developmental learning, establishing birdsong as an interesting model to investigate these aspects.

Melatonin affects the temporal pattern of courtship vocalizations: we observed that the song of the Zebra Finch and the crow of the Japanese quail became shorter in constant light, a treatment known to abolish melatonin production. A shortening of the song duration was observed in finches following the ablation of the pineal gland, which is the main source of melatonin. A lengthening of the song was observed following a melatonin treatment. We propose that melatonin could be part of an evolutionary conserved neuro-endocrine pathway of control of species-specific signals.

Comparison between vocal learner and vocal non-learner species: we estimated heritability of vocalizations in the Zebra Finch. In Quail (genus Coturnix), we used interspecific hybridization to demonstrate that crow and conspecific mating preference exhibit a hereditary basis. We also described ontogenetic changes in the crow of the Japanese quail and we proposed that mechanisms used by quails to transform sounds during ontogeny resemble those described in songbirds during the sensitive phase of song learning.

Research projects

Cultural evolution of birdsong : funded by the ANR, click here to learn more

Use of a robot bird as a social agent (in collaboration with the Autonomous Systems Laboratory at the ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen, Germany)

Derégnaucourt, S., Saar, S., Gahr, M.: Dynamics of crowing development in the domestic Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica). Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B, 276, 1665: 2153-2162 (2009)